For Those We've Lost
by Starlight-Ninja
Summary: :onesht: :Pokemon Special universe:  Gold, Silver, and Crystal visit the grave of Silver's mother.  Rated for the mention of death. Kinda fluffy.


A.N: Here's a little bit of Johto-trio fluff I wrote since I was board. It's set in the Pokemon Special/Adventures universe after the HGSS arc. No, I don't really know if Silver's mother is really dead; this is just personal headcannon. So is Gold and Silver sharing an apartment. Hope that clears some things up.

Disclaimer: I'm trying, but I don't have the rights to Pokemon at the moment, and probably never will (damn lawyers).

EDIT: fixed a few mistakes I missed, and added line breaks; Sorry for not noticing earlier...

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><p>Gold didn't really know why he decided to come along in the first place. While Silver never asked him for much, he really hated graveyards. Yet, here he was, on the top deck of the S.S Anne, traveling with the redhead and Crystal to visit the grave of Silver's mother on Two Island. As the luxury ship docked at the pier, Gold gave another sigh and followed his friends off the boat, determined to at least try now that he was here.<p>

Sadly, said determination died pretty fast when he realized that the local church was using the beach next to said graveyard for a sea burial, and Crystal's remark didn't make things any better. "It must be romantic, having your ashes scattered by the ocean like that."

Silver huffed at the girl's remark, but it sounded so much like the crap Gold's aunts gave his mother that he couldn't help himself and snapped at her. "Sure, seeing nothing but water or the insides of a pokemon when it eats you is so romantic."

Looking apologetically at the small group of mourners the raven-haired boy accidentally offended with his remark, Crystal snapped right back at him. "Show a little respect for the dead, Gold! Just because you don't agree with something doesn't mean you have to ruin it for someone else."

"...Forget it. I'm leaving. It's not like I want to hang around a bunch of dead people anyway."

That pissed Silver off. "Then why on Earth did you come in the first place!"

"I don't know, okay!" Dropping his gaze because now was not the time to get into an argument with the boy, Gold took a deep breath and said, "Just, just go ahead and visit your parents already," before turning around and walking away.

Silver was standing in front of his mother's grave, not having any idea what to say. He didn't remember anything about the woman that gave birth to him, haven been taken away from her at such a young age. Glancing over at someone talking so easily with her father's cross-marked gravestone with envy, he sighed and glanced back at the simple gravemarker in front of him. "Hey, Silver, are you okay?"

Jumping slightly, he whipped around to find Crystal was now standing right behind him. "Don't do that."

"Sorry."

Kneeling down and brushing his hand over the plaque with her name, he whispered, "Heh, I don't even know what I'm supposed to say."

"…It doesn't matter…

Looking around and seeing no one besides Crystal and himself, he glanced accusingly at the girl.

"It wasn't me! I swear!"

"Then who was it then? Ghosts?"

The voice spoke up again, softly, almost hypnotic, as it continued seemingly unaware of the interruption. "It doesn't matter what you say, be it out loud or in your head, at their grave or away from it, or if you even say anything at all. The most important thing is that you care enough remember them, as it keeps them alive in your heart. Just the fact that they're being remembered by those they love means more to them then just having a grave marker saying that they were there, as your memories, or even just the knowledge of their existence in your life, makes the time they spent with you mean so much more than just existing in the first place."

Taken aback slightly by the words the voice said, Silver looked back at his mother's grave. "I guess that works."

After standing there in silence for a couple more minutes, he and Crystal left, silently thanking the voice.

_I miss you, mother._

Chuckling at the muffled commotion he could hear from his spot on the beach near the hole in the cliff he'd heard about from a group of tourists that gave the Whisper's Bluff its name after his first statement, Gold continued in a dreamy voice so unlike his own, knowing full well that there was no way to truly say what he wanted to tell Silver to his face, and, quite frankly, scaring the crap out of him and Crystal with disembodied voices was extremely fun.

He didn't really know how true the words he was saying were, as they were what his mother told him (sans the knowledge part; he threw that in for Silver) when he'd broken into the church to try and say goodbye to his Dad before they scattered his ashes at dawn, but he figured that Silver could use them. After hearing them leave, Gold still continued to sit there, just watching the ocean, lost in thought.

It wasn't fair, that his best friend (he still wasn't sure how Silver felt about him, despite the fact that they were living together, so best friend would have to work for now) could visit his mother and pay his respects at any time when he couldn't. The best he could do was look at the ocean and toss the occasional flowers in it, and that just made him uneasy, not knowing if his father was even there, if his ashes and the flowers were still okay, or if the man even realized that he'd even tried to acknowledge him at all.

Gold hadn't realized how long he'd been sitting there until Aitaro popped out of his pokeball and started tugging on his hoodie. Noticing the sun starting to set on the water, he glanced down at the Ambipom and smiled softly, releasing the rest of his pokemon, who looked at him confused. "We'll head back later. Right now, I just want to enjoy the sunset. And who knows, maybe one of Dad's ashes is around here." Nodding, they all curled up next to him and watched the light show of the sun sinking under the water, either not noticing or completely ignoring Xatee flying back to Crystal.

The trip back to Johto had been surprisingly quiet so far. Gold was just staring at the ocean (well, more specifically, the ashes and flower petals from the burials yesterday and before they left), and the other two were standing nearby debating whether or not to ask him about what happened yesterday. In the end, they joined him, deciding to let him say something if he wanted to. Gold glanced in their direction when they came over, but stayed silent for another several minutes.

"You know, it's kinda funny when you and super-serious-girl start arguing, Sil."

Glaring slightly at the shortened version of his name, but deciding not to press the issue at the moment, said boy replied, "And you being philosophical is weird."

Crystal decided to chime in. "As well as more than slightly scary. And don't talk about me like I'm not here."

"Sure, whatever." Cracking his trademark grin for a second, he dropped it and stared back at the lone white rose petal still following the ship. "Even after what I said, I still wish I could visit my dad sometimes."

"Just look at the ocean. He should still be there somewhere, even if it isn't exactly where you are at the moment."

"But…"

"You did essentially say it was the thought that counted, didn't you?"

"Yeah…Thanks, guys."

"Don't mention it, Gold."

"Yeah, and, thanks for coming out here me."

No one knew what else to say, so they just sat there in the somewhat comfortable silence for the rest of the trip. Crystal glanced at the time and gave a hasty goodbye and got on Archy, racing back to the lab to catch up on the work she missed. After watching her leave, Gold and Silver headed back to their apartment, a little happier then when they left.


End file.
